German Offenlegungsschrift 38 39 297 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,751 disclose apparatus which, in combination with an upstream copier, serve to deposit the copied sheets output by the copier in stacked form in a depositing station. For this purpose, the sheets are collected in sets, for example, in a collecting station and are stapled by stapling devices which are associated with the collecting station and can be adjusted to various stapling positions. The stapled sheet stacks are then removed from the collecting station by means of a transport gripper, and delivered in stacked fashion onto a vertically movable depositing table. Because of their spatial association with the collecting station and because of the guide means for adjusting to different stapling positions, the stapling devices of these known apparatus are arranged in a stationary and externally inaccessible manner such that time-consuming disassembly is necessary in the event of a malfunction of the stapling devices or for maintenance thereof.